Friday, January 20, 2012

The schedule for the 47th International Congress on Medieval Studies [10-12 May 2012, Western Michigan University] is now published, and that means this is the time of year to start thinking about which chain-mail dress you want to pack, which medievalists you want to either hug or slap this coming May, and how you are going to sneak your way into Elizabeth Teviotdale's bedroom, thereby ensuring better time slots at next year's Kalamazoo -- that is, if you're a great lover and you're her type [gosh, I really hope Liz Teviotdale has a good sense of humor; I think she does, actually].

All kidding aside, I thought I would highlight here some sessions that In The Middle-ers, BABEL, postmedieval, and GW-MEMSI will be involved in, and PLEASE feel free to tell us in the comments section which sessions you think we should take note of [and yes, isn't it refreshing to use those dangling participles, now that we're allowed to?]. I know there are a LOT more sessions I am not listing here that promise to be REALLY interesting, like Session 124 on "Thing Theory and Object-Oriented Studies in Medieval Contexts" and Session 437 on "Cosmopolitanism in the Middle Ages," and I could go on and on, but I won't.

Session 12: Literature, Theory, and the Future of Medieval Studies: Middle English and Its Others Thursday, May 10 @10:00 amSponsor: Exemplaria: A Journal of Theory in Medieval and Renaissance Studies

"The Blind Briton and the Book: Unsettling English History in the Man of Law’s Tale," Paul A. Broyles, III, Univ. of Virginia
"Becoming English in the Man of Law’s Tale," Mary Kate Hurley, Columbia Univ.
"Anglo-Saxon Saints in the South English Legendary," Andrew M. Pfrenger, Kent State Univ.–Salem
"English Saints’ Lives, Bury Saint Edmund’s Abbey, and Lydgate the Monk," Timothy R. Jordan, Zane State College

Is It a Boy, a Girl, or an Other? Monstrous Births of Non-monstrous OriginsLisa Leblanc, Anna Maria CollegeBorn For Monstrous Sanctity: Margaret and Her (Uncontainable) DragonBeth Sutherland, Univ. of VirginiaTwins and Hermaphrodites in Albertus and Pseudo-AlbertusSarah Alison Miller, Duquesne Univ.

Us and Them: Cultural Relativism in the Middle French Secrets de l’histoire naturelleJohn Block Friedman, Univ. of Illinois–Urbana-ChampaignMonsters in Dante’s Hell: Cultural Implications and Unorthodox ReligionEric Morningstar, Univ. of Michigan–FlintMonsters, A DefinitionMarcus Hensel, Univ. of OregonDogs, Devils, and the Rhetoric of Total AudibilityJeannie Miller, New York Uni

I have to say, I picked a good year to have my 10th Kalamazoo, and my paper only conflicts with one session (that I can tell) that I really wanted to be a part of. Of course it would be MEMSI, but I'll find a way through it, hoping we'll see some of these papers in other formats.